This invention relates to media material processing, and more particularly to processing apparatus, methods and systems, in which a media material, or several such materials, are supplied by a cartridge or cassette of such material in utilization apparatus, where the material, which may be supplied in web and/or sheet form is treated and/or action upon, such as by heat, light and/or pressure, and in which the fumes generated by the process are subjected to filtration to render them environmentally acceptable. Such apparatus may conventionally have an air processing system, including a changeable filter element.
The filters for such purposes can have a finite life due to a number of factors or combination of factors, including the total amount of material processed, the time which the filter has been in the apparatus, and the environment in which the machine is operated. In a paper copier apparatus, these factors may also include the gloss level, type of material and throughput rate, and the exposure level.
In such systems and apparatus, where the service to the machine is controlled on a regular basis, usually no problem arises since the filter is changed on a timely basis. On the other hand, advances in technology has provided apparatus with high reliability, so that frequent or regular service is not required. A user may not wish to have a maintenance contract, or the cost associated with a service person changing filters on a timely basis.
Because of the need to monitor filter life, and to change the filter before it becomes saturated or inefficient, various schemes have been suggested to alert the operator of such need. These includes filters which are, in effect, self monitoring, and which alert the operator and/or shut down the apparatus an appropriate time. In the case of a copier, the filer can count the number of cycles or copies, or can monitor its internal condition.
Such sophisticated monitoring or counting systems are costly, are subject to failure, and in any case even when working properly, require special and often unanticipated and unwanted attention of the operator, to remove the older filter and install a new one. Obviously, this can occur at inconvenient times.
However, there is one inherent characteristic of the cartridge of cassette loaded machine, and that is the necessity of changing the cartridge when empty or spent of its contents.